Aastra Telecom Vipr

Short for Virtual Presence, the recently updated Vipr (pronounced ‘viper’) from telecoms specialist Aastra is one of the first videoconferencing products to be based on the Session Initiation Protocol (Sip) as used by most internet telephony solutions.

Unlike a lot of competitors, it can handle up to 100 simultaneous participants without a central Multipoint Control Unit (MCU) making it both an affordable and easy-to-manage solution.

Also available for conference room deployment we looked at the Vipr 4000 personal (desktop) model, implemented in the form of a desktop terminal which can double up as a PC or notebook monitor.

The Vipr terminal, a functional if not very elegant looking device, is effectively a self-contained Linux PC mounted behind a flat-panel display with a pair of stereo speakers on the sides, a small video camera on top and a Voice over IP (VoIP) handset underneath.

A built-in Ethernet interface is used to connect the terminal to the network and for use in a large room you can attach a second, remote camera that can be motorised if needed.

Of course, you will need at least two terminals in order to use Vipr, together with a separate Application Server (From £2,798 ex Vat), to handle the Sip communication, user authentication and other management functions.

We used Vipr to meet and talk to Aastra staff in the US and were very impressed with the results. Picture quality is excellent with lifelike video and hardly any noticeable delays, and the Aastra hardware works well, using H.264 video encoding, even on low-bandwidth links.

Sound quality is good too, allowing natural two-way conversations without any pauses while the unit itself is very easy to use, with most of the controls accessible using a graphical touchscreen interface plus an on-screen keyboard for data entry.

There’s no need to book a conference with Vipr, participants can join at any time with up to 15 people seen at the same time. There are also facilities to zoom the displays of those you want to see in more detail.

There is also a shared phonebook showing presence information, making it easy to see who’s ‘in’ and available to talk, plus facilities to save meeting participants and reconnect automatically when you want to start a new conference.

Another nice feature is the ability to stream pre-recorded video, live TV and other feeds to conference participants and, by adding an optional collaboration card, share and transfer documents, give interactive presentations and so on.

Full integration with Microsoft Live Meeting has been added along with AES encryption for security.
Vipr can interoperate with traditional H.323/H.320 systems, with PSTN/PBX gateways as another option.

Because it’s always on, like a phone, this makes it more likely to be used than systems that require pre-booking and enables it to be used for ad-hoc meetings and distributed team working, not just large-scale conferencing.

Unfortunately, the Vipr terminal isn’t a very pretty device and it’s a little limited in terms of resolution when used as a desktop display. And for most small businesses it’s still a significant investment.

Still, compared to the cost of flying business class (not to mention the time involved) Vipr doesn’t seem so pricey and, looked at that way, could soon pay for itself many times over.

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